RELATED REFERENCES
Barrel type locks such as those of the construction shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,835,674 issued to Hoyt, 4,058,992 and 4,289,000 issued to Nielson and 4,635,452 and 4,712,395 issued to Agbay, the disclosures of which are hereby specifically incorporated herein by reference, are widely known by those knowledgeable in the art and are widely used by gas and electric service companies for shut-off valves, electric meters, switches, and other devices designed to be operated solely by authorized personnel. In a typical configuration, a barrel lock is used to resiliently close and lock a retaining ring, an example of which is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,300 issued to Agbay (the disclosure of which is hereby specifically incorporated herein by reference). A retaining ring is secured around the housing of an electric meter cover with a barrel lock so as to connect the housing to a meter box and to prevent tampering of the meter by unauthorized personnel. In order to be unlocked, a special key is inserted into a narrow bore in the lock. The key disengages a pair of spring loaded ball bearings in the lock, thereby unlocking the device. However, the bore of the lock is relatively narrow. It is not uncommon for dirt, dust, insects and other forms of debris to accumulate over time within the bore, thereby causing the bore to be obstructed and preventing the effective insertion of the key at such time as the lock is desired to be opened. The key itself comprises no means for clearing the bore of debris. Often the only means for removing a lock in this obstructed condition is by cutting it off. This results in loss of time for the personnel and in loss of money due to the required replacement of the destroyed barrel lock. A device specifically designed to clean the bore and remove debris prior to insertion of the lock would be very beneficial by allowing a more efficient and economical removal of the locks. No such cleaning tool which is designed to perform this function is currently commercially available.